DUP councillor criticised for shaking Sinn Féin hand
Strabane DUP Councillor Thomas Kerrigan was forced to retract
comments he made after he congratulated Sinn Féin Councillor Ivan
Barr on his election as council chairperson.
Kerrigan, who was himself elected as vice chair, responded in
time honoured fashion by shaking hands with the newly elected
chair but it has enraged DUP leader Ian Paisley, who is demanding
disciplinary action against the Strabane councillor.
According to the media, in a passing remark Kerrigan told Barr
that he could work with him, a sentiment that reflects
on-the-ground realities but falls far from DUP policy. In a press
statement the following day, Kerrigan withdrew his remarks and
claimed that he had been misrepresented.
The DUP councillor said he had meant he could only work with Sinn
Féin if ``they repent their evil deeds, apologise to the security
forces and hand in all their weapons''. Kerrigan said he had
pursued DUP policy of isolating Sinn Féin but admitted ``it is not
in our hands to isolate these people, they have a mandate''.
The beleaguered councillor said that while the DUP vote was
declining in Strabane, Sinn Féin was getting stronger. ``That's
the cross we have to bear,'' he said.
Fellow Strabane councillor Ivan Barr, whose election to council
chairperson had led to the handshake, described himself as
``sympathetic'' to the DUP man's plight, saying he had come under
``unfortunate pressure.''
``It was no big deal,'' said Barr. ``A hand of congratulation was
extended by me and accepted.'' Barr said that in 1985, when he was
elected as chair for the first time, the DUP and UUP had
repeatedly disrupted council meetings, blowing horns and
whistles, but that was a thing of the past.
More recently, unionist councillors had accepted the necessity of
working with Sinn Féin, putting aside their party's differences
and concentrating on `bread and butter' issues in the interests
of the whole community in Strabane.
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